the passing of Herman H. Goldstine

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

 From: Susan Butler <sbutler () ias edu
  Date: Tue Jun 22, 2004  9:31:42 AM US/Pacific
  Subject: Letter from Dr. Goddard
  Reply-To: Susan Butler <sbutler () ias edu>

                                        June 22, 2004
  To the Institute Community,

  It is with great regret that I share the sad news of the passing of
  Herman H.  Goldstine on June 15, 2004.  From 1946 to 1957, Dr.  
Goldstine
  was a Long-Term Member in the Schools of Natural Sciences and 
Historical
  Studies.

  During World War II, Dr.  Goldstine worked on the groundbreaking ENIAC
  (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer) project and 
collaborated
  with John von Neumann on its successor, the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete
  Variable Computer).  Subsequently, he came to the Institute for 
Advanced
  Study at the invitation of John von Neumann, to work on the prototype 
of
  the present-day computer, the IAS machine.

  In 1958, he joined IBM where he established the Mathematical Sciences
  Department and served as its first director.  In recognition of his
  contributions to IBM and to science, Dr.  Goldstine was appointed an 
IBM
  Fellow in 1967, a position he retained until he retired in 1973.

  For his impact on science and technology, Herman H.  Goldstine 
received
  the National Medal of Science from President Reagan in 1985.  Among
  others, his honors include the Computer Pioneer Award of the 
Institute of
  Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and memberships in the
  National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and 
Sciences,
  and the American Philosophical Society, for which he served as 
executive
  director from 1984 to 1997.

  Dr.  Goldstine's book The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann, 
published
  by Princeton University Press in 1972, examines the development of
  computing machinery, from the seventeenth century through the early
  1950s.

  The Institute community extends its deepest sympathy to Ellen 
Goldstine
  and to the Goldstine family.

  Peter Goddard

  Susan Butler
  Executive Assistant to the Director
  Institute for Advanced Study
  609-734-8202
  609-683-7605 - fax
  sbutler () ias edu

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